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I'm six days post op and feel so low.

Posted , 9 users are following.

lynn08926
lynn08926

This whole procedure has really been traumatic for me and I didn't expect it.

constipated, feeling sick, so tired I can't even think straight and absolutely no appetite.

I adore my grandchildren, but am shocked that I don't even want to see them.

My knee is so stiff.  Using ice packs every two hours for 10 mins, but then I feel shaky and cold.

What a misery I am.  Desperate to know it gets better.

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • geoff1944
    geoff1944 lynn08926

    Posted

    Hi Lynn

    Dont despair its very early days, your sickness and lack of appetite happened to me...indeed I think most feel this,  I put it down to the meds and once they tail off you will feel much better..I,m 9 weeks in nd still dont have much of an appetite but hey...I've lost a stone!!Your leg has had a real trauma and will show itself as aches and pains for a good while...but as long as you keep up the exercises (no pain no gain!) things will get better..Honest!

  • Batteneye
    Batteneye lynn08926

    Posted

    Hang in there Lynn. You are at the most painful period in your recovery. The constipation is probably down to the pain killersSo get someting to counteract it (Movicol is good). Loss of appetite is natural and it is quite natural to feel so depondent. Don't cut the pain killers down or out. You need them so that you can do the exercises. Hydro-therapy will help a lot. Full recovery seems a long way away but you will get there. I'm 7 weeks post op (Left knee TKR) and I am just beginning to feel there is light at the end of the tunnel.
  • peter64590
    peter64590 lynn08926

    Posted

    Not everyone is the same, but I also took more than two weeks before I could eat anything other than jelly and ice cream, losing 19 pounds in the process. I have since found those lost pounds! It does take a month or two before the pain subsides. I took over a thousand paracetomol before beingrelatively pan free. just hang in there and remmber your exercises. 
  • pegs_girl
    pegs_girl lynn08926

    Posted

    Hi Lin 

    Bless you i know how you feel. 6 Days is no time at all. Its so difficult the 1st month but i assure you it will get better . You may need some laxatives to help with stool motions and stronger meds from GP.

    I am 3 months post op and am up and about walking and driving again.

    You have to push yourself through the pain barrier but most important is to rest you have had a major operation and as well as your knee pain your whole body is traumatised so it needs to adjust again

    .As long as you drink plenty and eat small portions and rest each week you will feel different

    Good luck and take care

    Pegs  

  • gloria29023
    gloria29023 lynn08926

    Posted

    Lynn, the week I spent in hospital having my TKR created real trauma for me. I was helpless, vulnerable, drugged, very sore, upset at my inability to achieve the bend I was apparently supposed to achieve, upset at the lack of empathy shownby some of the nurses, crying because at times my medication was inadequate. When I went home I was quite disillusioned with the whole thing and prone to brimming over with tears every time I had to move and stayed that way until I went tommy first physio. I began to improve after 2 weeks and further as the pain level dropped and also my medication intake.
  • gloria29023
    gloria29023 lynn08926

    Posted

    But at 7 weeks I went back to work, at my 3 month check I was told I was progressing better than average. I am now 1 week over 3 months and although the knee and leg are still improving daily I'm fine. My point is that TKR is extremely traumatic and takes some getting over psychologically as well as physically. I lost 6 kilos as had no appetite like you. It does get better and know that you are not going through anything unusual. But it's horrid none the less. Hang in there. I'm even having my second knee done 6 months after the first so I'll know what to expect. 
  • grace47953
    grace47953 lynn08926

    Posted

    I had a knee replacement seven weeks ago.  I still cannot bend the knee well (only around 90 degrees) . My therapist says that my hamstring around my knee and other muscles and tendons are very stiff.   I am in a terrible pain at night, burning feeling, pain in an ankle and side of my leg are. Also I have burning sensation around patella.  I had very inflamed knee area for about 6 weeks, perhaps the inflammation made it difficult to bend the knee.  It is getting better, but knee is still very swollen and hot at times.  I can see now that getting better it is a very slow process.  I went back to the office after five and a half weeks.  I am 67, so perhaps this is a reason for slow process of healing.

    I truly believe that if I would be allowed to use CPM machine immediately after the operation , I would have better bent now.

    I had operation done at Stanmore Hospital, the consultant did not believe in using CPM machine. The patient on next bed, under different consultant had it, her bent was much better.  I would like to also add that it is so good to read all your postings, it gives me hope that it will get better.  Best wishes to all of you.  And especially to Lynn, I hope you will feel better soon.

  • debbie02705
    debbie02705 lynn08926

    Posted

    as every one else has said its early days , im 53 and 4 months post opp , after the first 2 or 3 weeks i felt nearly normlal and started to do more ,i was wrong and did too much setting my self back , but after having a telling off i slowed down .now at 4 months im ready to have the other knee done ,in fact  cant weight ,my knee moves great  but is stiff every time i rest it i am told that the other knee will be easier with quicker results ,(fingers crossed ) i work in a very busy kitched and not back in work.  I thought i would be able to go back at about 8 weeks ,but the other knee will not let me so more time off , i though every one would be back to work after 8 weeks ,there not every one recovers different , like you ive read this web sight and learned lots , believe me things will get better and soon you will notice a change every day ,a bit more bend , quicker out of bed ,washing easier , walking better and with one crutch ,then with none , and getting your own socks and shoes on , that was a biggie for me , in a few weeks you will feel much better and look back and think it wasnt that bad at all , people just dont know what to expect (a bit like having your first baby ), you will be fine so good luck and take it easie x  
    • lynn08926
      lynn08926 debbie02705

      Posted

      Thanks for your encouraging message.

      Feel so much better than when I posted my original note.  Appetite improving, but my system is still up the creak which is a bit disconcerting. Going from constipation to the opposite. Sorry, too much information!

      Started hydrotherapy, but my knee is SO stiff.  Worried I'll never achieve the vital bend.  Presume most people feel like this?  Husband is very good   with the ice and that really helps.  The 'pull' I feel when exercising is almost unpleasant.

      Staples out tomorrow, so hope that makes it easier.  And don't get me started on these pigging stockings!! Six weeks, day and night.  One of the worst aspects of this whole episode.

    • debbie02705
      debbie02705 lynn08926

      Posted

      you dont need to tell me about the toilet thing , been there and got a t-shirt , its to do with your meds and will go away in time , ive has this problem for the last 12 months and have poo meds on my repeat , lucky for me my gp is great and makes me laugh when the subject comes up ,he really is a down to earth man . when your stapples come out the releife is wonderfull and hte extra movement is good , please dont push it though or you will go backwards ,you will get that bend and you may not even know when you do it it slowly creaps up on you . as for the stockings i was lucky where we live were given an injection every day for 2 weeks to stop blood clots ,you take them home and do them your self ,i thought this was going to be hard and my family were not impressed , i could do it while they were in the same room and no one saw ,so no stockings for me , but never mind 6 weeks will fly past , one thing i did was really helpfull ,i was refered to a sceam called paris ,where you go to a gym /pool ,and have some one to guide you and show you what you can do or not do ,and they are there for you , best thing is its so cheap . i have been going swimming week days now foe 8 months ,also the pool i go to does warm water classes for people who have had injuries or opps like us ,just the same as the hydro pool , worth think about , hope things move along quick ,x
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